Friday, October 17, 2008

God has blessed me in so many ways and praising him is something I often fail at. There are so many little ways that God works which we often take for granted but he blesses us with so much and reveals his promises to us in simple ways.

Just last night I was reading in Malachi where God speaks to the nation of Israel about robbing him by not giving their tithe. Here is some of the passage:

"8 You ask: 'How do we rob You?' 'By not making the payments of 10 percent and the contributions. 9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you - the whole nation - are still robbing Me. 10 Bring the full 10 percent into the storehouse so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this way,' says the Lord of Hosts. 'See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.' " Malachi 3:8-10

Verse 10 really stood out to me. God has richly blessed John David and I throughout our marriage. When we married we had maybe $2,000-$3,000 to our name (cash, checking, savings, everything!) That was it, no assets, no furniture, only our clothes and cars which our parents blessed us with. Before we even married we committed to God that we would give our tithe and then give above that each year. God has honored that commitment and our giving, he has blessed us in so many ways! He has provided furniture to us (we have only had to purchase 3-4 items), he has provided clothing and food, and he enabled us to graduate college debt free which is a huge blessing.

After reflecting on this last night I mentioned to John David how good God is and this verse shows that he wants to bless us if we will only be willing to give to him. Today I received in the mail a graduation check! It was completely unexpected and a blessing! Every little bit counts when you are saving and right now we are saving up 3 months living expenses in an Emergency Fund. I am just amazed at God's faithfulness to us!

This morning I was reading in Matthew and read this passage:

"25 'This is why I tell you: Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: they don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don't labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't He do much more for you - you of little faith? 31 So don't worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:25-34

It takes a lot of faith to truly apply this passage to our lives. But when we stop worrying about things and give our life, our situations, our finances to God he does amazing things! He tells us in verse 31 not to worry what we will eat or drink or wear. Just today after reading this passage I received a package from my mother-in-law and in it was a beautiful white cardigan.

Isn't it great how God works? He worked through my mother-in-law to teach me a lesson on faith. He says he will provide and he does! This wasn't a true need but I have wanted a white cardigan for months now and have been unsuccessful at finding one. I was blessed with this beautiful sweater and shown that God is faithful and his word is so true and DON'T WORRY!!

I think it is important to share the ways God works in our lives. We often don't share with others and it is so important to let people know what God does for us everyday. Just like yesterday when I was driving I nearly ran into a car that pulled out in front of me but I was able to react quickly enough to avoid an accident and all this happened while I was singing "My Savior loves, my Savior lives, my Savior's always there for me" from Aaron Shusts song My Savior My God! It's just awesome to think about how God works in our lives!!

Now that I have shared I would love to hear about how God is working in your life and showing himself to you!

Hey Rachel, I was just thinking about how God is so good in my life and how He makes things that seem impossible possible for me. So, when I read your this blog, it just reconfirmed How God is so GOOD. Thanks for your inspirational words!!!

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Me: Rachel

I am a 22-year-old Christ Follower and stay at home wife who works part-time for Tennessee Farmers Cooperative in Communications. I also have a video netcast, Life:Frugal and Simple where I cover frugal and simple living topics!! I have been married three years to my love, John David! He is Media Director at our church and we are so thrilled that God is using his talents!! God has blessed our marriage and I am always in awe of his hand in our lives! We live a simple life and live frugally, which are the main themes of this blog. We are debt free, minus our home, and live under John David's income so I can stay home with our future little ones and so we can give and bless others!! We are excited about what the future has in store and how God is going to use us!!